The Mets’ beleaguered second baseman admitted this afternoon that he remains haunted by the dropped pop-up in the ninth inning Friday that let the Yankees steal a 9-8 Subway Series win.

“I think so much about it — last night [was a] tough night for me,” Castillo whispered in halting English. “I can’t sleep [Friday] night. I can’t sleep last night. So I can’t wait to come to the ballpark.”

The Mets almost didn’t let Castillo face the music again before today’s game, with club PR chief Jay Horwitz initially shooing away the media before Castillo insisted he was will to speak.

The interview was brief, though, as Castillo still appeared shook up by his epic blunder on Alex Rodriguez‘s pop-up that allowed an alert Mark Teixeira to hustle around from first with the winning run.

The Mets tried to help Castillo get back on the horse by having him bat leadoff today, and Castillo said his phone was overflowing with messages and texts of support from friends and former teammates.

Even so, it wasn’t an experience Castillo wanted to give too much further thought. In fact, he said he refused to look at replay of the miscue and had no plans watch one anytime soon.

Castillo’s coaches and teammates began that healing process immediately after Friday’s game with words of encouragement that Castillo said touched him.

Castillo also got a lift from Derek Jeter‘s sympathetic words from the opposing clubhouse.

“I appreciate that, all my teammates supporting me,” Castillo said. “They [say] ‘Luis, that’s going to happen to anybody.’ I heard Jeter say it’s going to happen to anybody. Nobody wants to make errors. You want to do the best you can in the field. What can I say?”

According to Jerry Manuel, the Mets didn’t expect Castillo to say any more about it. Manuel and his team were as eager as Castillo to put Friday’s agonizing loss behind them as soon as possible.

“It’s baseball,” Manuel said today. “Obviously, you don’t like to go through that. One thing about this game, you get a chance to do it again. In fact, I mentioned [Friday], we have 100 games left. The only thing that kind of heals those things is time.”

For Castillo, the timing of the blunder certainly couldn’t have been any worse — and not just because it cost the Mets a game against their Bronx rivals.

This has been something of a bounce-back spring for Castillo, who was savaged by Mets fans for his injury-filled 2008 season in the first year of a four-year, $25 million contract.

Castillo had rededicated himself in the offseason, dropped nearly 20 pounds and has been a reliable and mostly productive presence in an otherwise injury-ravaged Mets lineup.

Now this.

Fortunately for Castillo, the Mets don’t return to Citi Field until next Friday for a series with the defending AL champion Rays. Rightly or wrongly, Manuel thinks that will be enough time for the fans to forgive and forget.

“By that time, he’ll be about 10-for-15, five stolen bases, three or four game-winning hits and they’ll be loving him,” Manuel said. ” No, I’m not worried about [the reception].”